"From the ones who killed your mother."

My mother's face flashed through my mind. Not the way she looked in life, vibrant and full of secrets, but how I found her that night. Pale. Still. Dead. A crescent moon pendant clutched in her lifeless hand.

I yanked my wrist from Ash's grip, my blood beginning to boil. I had no idea who these people were and I didn't care but for them to mess with the memory of my mother like that. I couldn't forgive that.

"My mother had a heart attack." I spat venom his way, glaring at him.

"Is that what they told you?" His voice was gentle, almost pitiful. It made me want to scream.

"They didn't tell me anything. I was there." The words tasted like ashes in my mouth. "I found her." I told him, not sure why I was still discussing this with people I just met. I don't even speak about my mother with my aunt.

Something dangerous flashed in his eyes. Behind us, I heard Kai mutter a curse in what sounded like Mandarin.

"Luna," Ash stepped closer, his presence somehow both threatening and comforting. "Your mother was murdered by the Blood Moon pack. They've been hunting moon-blessed wolves for centuries, and she died protecting you. She was strong but they came in droves and..."

I laughed. A sound hollow to my ears but I laughed nonetheless, my chest aching.

"Seriously. This is the best you could come up with? Wolves? Blood Moon? Do you even hear yourself? So much for a university haze. I don't know where you got the information on my mother but you could have used something else."

Ash watched me for a moment as if grappling with the idea before he turned to the guys behind me.

"Show her," Felix piped up, bouncing on his heels. "It'll be faster than trying to explain."

"No." Ash's response was sharp enough to make Felix step back. "Not here. Too many witnesses."

"Then where?" I challenged, crossing my arms. "Because right now, you all sound completely insane and I am not going anywhere with any of you."

"The sanctuary," Kai suggested, appearing at my elbow like a shadow. "It's warded."

Ash nodded slowly, accepting Kai's suggestion.

"Tonight. After sunset. We'll meet at the sanctuary." He turned to me with that intense stare again. "Will you come?"

I should have said no. I should have run far away from these strange boys and their talk of wolves and murder but something deep inside me stirred at the word 'sanctuary' – something wild and familiar that had been sleeping ever since my mother's death. I shook my head and frowned.

"No way." I said before turning to leave but Felix blocked my path.

"Move or I will scream rape." I threatened him, my shoulders squared to go through with it.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, seemingly amused before he turned to Ash for direction. I turned to Ash too.

"Only if you say that you'll come to the sanctuary later." Ash said.

"If not, we'll show up at your room in the middle of the night." Felix added a playful look on his face.

"Fine," I heard myself say. "Whatever." I mumbled, sure that I wasn't going anywhere near them and if they did show up to my room like stalkers, my bottle of pepper spray would be ready.

"Good," Ash promised. He glanced at the sky, then at Kai. "Get her settled in. Felix, run perimeter. I'll handle the wards."

They moved instantly at his commands, like soldiers following their general. Felix saluted with his usual grin before disappearing into the crowd. Kai retrieved my boxes from where they'd been set aside. I didn't want either of them to follow me but I had an inkling that they wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Come on, Luna-tic," Kai said, ignoring my grimace at the nickname. "Let's get you moved in before sunset."

The walk to my room was silent, my mind spinning with questions I was afraid to ask. Kai somehow managed to carry all my boxes while keeping one eye on our surroundings, like he was expecting an attack at any moment.

Room 314 was at the end of a long hallway, tucked into a corner. Kai set my boxes down and produced a key from nowhere. Were you telling me that I didn't even have a key to my own room?

"We had you placed here specifically," he explained as he unlocked the door. "Corner room, reinforced walls, clear sight lines to the forest. Plus..." He stepped inside and tapped the window frame. "Mountain ash wood. They can't cross it."

"They who?" I demanded half heartedly as I looked around the nice room, but he just shook his head.

"Tonight you'll find out," he promised. "Try to rest until then. And Luna?" His playful demeanor dropped for a moment, leaving something serious in its place. "Don't let anyone else in. No matter what."

He was gone before I could respond, leaving me alone in a room. I plopped down on the bed and sighed, knowing fully well that I didn't plan on letting anyone into my living space. Especially them.

I spent the next few hours unpacking, trying to focus on normal freshman concerns. Where to put my clothes. How to arrange my art supplies. Whether my roommate would mind the string lights I brought. If I even had a roommate to begin with.

But as the sun began to set, casting long shadows across my floor, I couldn't ignore the thrumming in my veins. A pull or in other words warmth towards something out there. I couldn't place my finger on it but I felt like going out. Like leaving the four corners of this room and walking barefoot on the grass. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, settling on the fact that I was homesick. After all, I always strolled in my backyard back home when it was nighttime. It calmed me. No more of that I guess.

A knock at my door made me jump and I took a step towards it.

"Luna?" A deep voice called. "It's Derek Stone. Remember me?"

Derek. The name sounded familiar. I remembered from my acceptance package. My RA.

"Everything okay in there?" He asked me, not giving me time to say a word.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I called back, pressing against the door but not opening it. Something felt wrong about his voice. We hadn't spoken over the phone before but I could somehow tell. Leaving this room was wrong.

"Just checking in. Mind opening up?"

My hand moved toward the handle, but Kai's warning echoed in my head. Don't let anyone else in. I froze and thought to myself. Should I really be following the advice of a nutjob I just met or actually try to make some new friends? I juggled the thought but I couldn't deny that Kai was damn serious when he told me that.

"Actually, I'm about to head out," I lied. "Meeting some friends."

A pause. Then a sound like nails scraping wood. I took a step back, not liking what I was hearing.

"No," the voice that was Derek's shifted, deepened. "You're not."

The door handle began to turn on its own.

"No," the voice that was Derek's shifted, deepened. "You're not."

The door handle began to turn on its own. I rushed back, not wanting to be near whatever the fuck was going on outside my door when the mountain ash door frame glowed as the door shuddered in place. I blinked at the glow, sure that my eyes were deceiving me. Outside my door, something growled. A sound no human throat could make. A sound, I convinced myself, was just sound effects coming from someone else's room.

I scrambled backward, knocking over a box of books. Art supplies scattered across the floor, pencils rolling under the bed. I breathed in and out, trying to calm myself before something occurred to me.

My phone. I needed my phone.

I saw it on the bed and made a move for it but before I could reach it, the window burst open. I screamed, but it was only Felix, launching himself through the opening with impossible grace.

"Sorry I'm late!" He landed in a crouch, grinning despite the situation. "Traffic was murder. Also, actual murder attempts."

I stared at him and then out the window, wondering how in the world he had just jumped in through my window when I was three storeys high. My thoughts were drawn back to the door when I heard it splinter and the growl got louder.

"What is happening?!" I screamed, my head in my hands and my mind probably on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Felix's grin vanished.

"Right. Time to go." He grabbed my hand. "Hope you're not afraid of heights."

"What..." I started, tears making my eyes water, but he was already pulling me toward the window. Again, I was three stories up.

"Are you insane?" I shot the question his way, my logical sense coming back for a moment.

"Trust me," he winked. "I'm excellent at catching."

The door exploded inward and I turned around expecting to see a man but where my RA should have been stood something else. Something definitely not human. Something with red eyes and too many teeth.

Felix shoved me behind him, standing between me and the monster treading at my doorway.

"Last chance to use the door peacefully, Derek."

The creature snarled as if retorting.

"Give us the moon-blessed." It hissed, its gold red eyes flickering to me. I gulped in fear.

"Yeah, that's not happening." Felix's voice changed, gaining a growl of its own. When he turned his head, his eyes were glowing amber and I had half a mind to push him away from me too.

"Luna, jump. Now." He ordered me.

I looked out the window, my nerves getting the best of me. I hated heights. I shook my head.

"No way. I can't."

"Luna, trust me." Felix assured me, inching me closer to the window sill as his eyes still stayed on that monster.

"But..."

"Jump!"

Derek – or what used to be Derek – lunged through the doorway. Felix met him halfway, his body rippling and changing mid-leap to what my eyes refused to believe. A freaking wolf! Where the cheerful skateboarder had been, a massive wolf with golden fur now snapped and snarled.

I felt the bile rise up my throat and my vision swirled from the adrenaline but I knew that I did not want to be in the same room as those things so I did the only sensible thing. I jumped.

The ground rushed up to meet me, but strong arms caught me before impact. I blinked and looked up, only to see gray eyes looking down at me. Ash set me on my feet like I weighed nothing, his eyes blazing gold in the twilight. I took a step back, my mental alarms warning me that if Felix was whatever he was then Ash was most likely the same.

"Run," he ordered, already turning toward the building. Above us, crashes and howls echoed from my room but my feet wouldn't move. My skin felt too tight, my bones aching with a familiar pain I'd been ignoring for months.

"I can't," I gasped as another wave of pain hit. This time, not from the growing fear in my stomach.

"Something's wrong." I said breathlessly.

Kai appeared from the shadows, his usual smirk replaced by concern.

"Ash, she's shifting. First time."

"Not here," Ash growled, impatiently. "Not now."

"Little late for preferences." Kai caught me as my knees buckled. "The moon's rising. She can't hold out much longer."

He was right. The full moon peered over the horizon, calling to something inside me that was clawing to get out. My vision blurred, shifted, sharpened. Sounds and smells overwhelmed me – forest pine, Ash's cologne, blood from the fight above. I screamed, wanting this pain, this feeling to stop.

"Luna, look at me." Ash cupped my face, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Don't fight it. Let it happen."

"What's happening to me?" My voice broke on a sob as tears ran down my face. As my body broke apart.

"You're becoming what you were always meant to be." His thumb stroked my cheek. "We've got you. You're safe."

The pain crested like a wave, and I felt myself falling into gold-flecked darkness. My head thrummed and I felt my body contort in odd angles. The last thing I heard before I passed out was Ash's voice, soft but firm.

"Welcome to the pack, Luna."

When I opened my eyes, the world had changed. Everything was sharper, clearer, alive with scents and sounds I never knew existed. I tried to rub my eye but I couldn't raise my arms. I looked down and my eyes widened at what I was seeing. Was that fur? I moved around in a circle, panicking when I saw what was supposed to be a tail wagging behind me. The hell? Was I a wolf?

Around me stood three wolves. One black as night with familiar gold eyes, one sleek and grey, and one with golden fur nursing a few wounds but looking pleased with himself.

"Can you hear us?" A voice echoed in my mind.

I went low to the ground and looked around frantically, not over the fact that I was now a wild animal but I was also hearing voices. Had I gone mad?

"Relax Luna. It's me." The voice said just as the black wolf got closer to me. I straightened and looked at it, realization dawning on me. The dark wolf was Ash.

"How..." I asked with my mind, unable to finish my sentence, not sure it would work.

"Pack bond," Kai's mental voice was smug. "Told you she was one of us."

"Guys?" Felix interrupted. "Hate to break up the moment, but we've got company."

Red eyes gleamed from the shadows of my room and more appeared in the tree line. Derek and more like him, coming to claim their prize. Me.

"Run," Ash commanded. "To the sanctuary. Don't stop for anything."

I obviously had no idea what was going on but I knew one thing for sure. Ash, Kai and Felix had saved me. If anything, I needed to be with them if I wanted to survive the night. As soon as they began to run, I joined them not waiting to find out what would be done to me if those other wolves caught me. And although my life was in danger, as I ran with them, for the first time since my mother passed away, I didn't feel utterly alone.

CHAPTER 4: MOONLIT TRUTHS

We ran through the woods, my paws somehow knowing exactly where to step despite never having four legs before. The sensation was terrifying and exhilarating all at once – the way my muscles bunched and stretched, the rich scents flooding my nose, the feel of earth beneath my feet. Despite being chased by monsters, I felt amazing.

Ash led our small pack, his black form somewhat blending in with the shadows. Kai flanked my right while Felix guarded our rear, all of them moving with practiced precision, protecting me from all sides. I could still hear the howls of our pursuers behind us, warning me that they were still close.

"Stay close," Ash's voice echoed in my mind. "The sanctuary's just ahead."

I wanted to ask what exactly the sanctuary was, but speaking mind-to-mind still felt strange. Instead, I focused on keeping pace, trying to ignore the burning in my unused muscles. Whatever body this was, it wasn't used to running for its life and definitely not in this manner.

A branch cracked somewhere to our left and Kai veered sharply, intercepting a russet-colored wolf that lunged from the underbrush. They collided in a fury of teeth and claws. I hesitated for a second but Kai shouted at me.

"Keep going!" Kai's mental voice commanded as he grappled with our attacker.

I still hesitated, not wanting to leave him behind, but Ash's presence in my mind was insistent.

"He can handle himself. Run!"

The forest blurred around us as we picked up speed. Ahead, stone walls emerged from the darkness. Ancient looking and vine-covered walls, humming with something that made my fur stand on end. Magic, I realized with a start. I could sense magic now?

"Almost there," Felix encouraged as more howls erupted behind us. "Just a little further…”

A massive gray form slammed into him, cutting off his words as they rolled away in a tangle of snapping jaws and flying fur.

“Felix.” I screamed at him, not knowing what to do but as before Ash was there to guide me.

"The entrance!" Ash's mind-voice carried equal parts command and desperation. "Run for the entrance!"

An archway loomed before us, runes carved into its weathered stone glowing with soft blue light. Beyond it, I caught glimpses of what looked like ruins – broken columns and crumbling walls forming a circular space beneath the moon.

We were less than twenty yards from safety when they caught up to us.

Red eyes materialized from the darkness as wolves emerged from all sides, bigger than natural wolves, with an air of danger about them. Their minds pressed against mine, alien and hungry.

"The moon-blessed," they whispered. "Take her."

Ash spun to face them, placing himself between me and our attackers. His massive form radiated power, and when he growled, the sound seemed to shake the earth itself.

"Last warning," his mind-voice rang with authority. "Back off."

Their only response was to attack.

Everything dissolved into chaos. Ash fought like a demon, his black form a blur of motion as he held off three attackers at once. But there were too many. A heavy body slammed into my side, teeth grazing my throat. I snapped and clawed instinctively, drawing first blood with beginner's luck. I did not sign up for this.

"Luna, run!" Ash commanded as he tore into another attacker. "Get inside the sanctuary. Now!"

I bolted for the archway, blood dripping from my mouth, hearing paws thundering behind me. Just as I crossed the threshold, something caught my back leg. Pain lanced through my body as teeth sank deep. I whined in pain, feeling my muscles tighten but as soon as I felt the pain, it disappeared. I turned to see Kai battling the wolf that latched onto me.

Felix materialized a moment later, limping but alive, helping Ash drive the remaining wolves back.

As soon as we were all through the archway, the runes blazed to life. A barrier of blue light sprang up, sealing us inside and acting as a wall. Our pursuers crashed against it like waves against stone, snarling in frustration since they couldn’t get to us.

The change came over me suddenly. My bones shifting, fur receding, human skin replacing wolf hide. I collapsed onto cool grass, my body not in as much pain as the first time I shifted, gasping as my body returned to its original form. The others changed too, their wolves melting away to reveal familiar faces.

"Everyone alive?" Kai asked, helping me sit up. Blood matted his hair on one side, but his smile was unchanged.

"Mostly," Felix groaned, prodding at what looked like bite marks on his arm. "Derek fights dirty these days."

"Luna?" Ash crouched beside me, his eyes steady on mine. "Are you hurt?"

I meant to say I was fine, but what came out instead was,

"What the hell is going on?"

He sighed, looking suddenly tired.

"That's... a long story. But you deserve to know everything." He glanced at the barrier where red eyes still watched us hungrily.

"Your mother was part of this pack once. The original pack, before the Blood Moon corruption spread. She left to protect you, to hide what you were becoming. She knew that if she stayed, they would use you for their own horrid purposes.”

My mind raced. My mother was a wolf? That would explain some of the things she did when she was still alive. Why we had to move so much but still, it didn’t explain why they would have to kill her. I was the one they wanted.

"What am I?" My voice shook. "What are we?"

"Werewolves, obviously," Felix chimed in, earning a glare from Ash.

"We're guardians," Ash corrected. "Protectors of the old ways. The moon-blessed, like you, are rare – born to help maintain balance between wolf and human, between magic and mundane." He took my hand, his touch gentle. "But others want that power for themselves. The Blood Moon pack corrupts everything they touch, turning wolves into the monsters you saw tonight."

“But you’re the same as me. I mean you can turn too.”

Kai chuckled, stepping forward.

“It’s not the same. We can only turn and do the normal werewolf stuff you see in fairytales but you are so much more. You can break bonds between our human and wolf selves. In short terms, you’re the key to everything. And if done right, even immortality for a werewolf.”

I looked down at our joined hands, then at the ruined sanctuary around us, remembering the wrongness I'd sensed in Derek and the others. They wanted me for what I could do. To grant them immortality? It still didn’t make any sense. There was so much that I didn’t know.

"My mother..."

"Died protecting you from them," Kai finished softly. "Just like we will."

"We're your pack now," Ash promised. "If you'll have us."

“It’s a bit too early to bring it up but you’ll need to start training.” Felix brought up, his eyes trained on the barrier and the wolves outside.

“And since we’re stuck here. You can ask us anything. We have the time.” Kai added, sitting down beside Ash and I.

I stared at him for a long moment, then at Ash and then Felix. At these boys who'd risked their lives for me before I even knew what I was. Outside the barrier, more corrupted wolves gathered, their red eyes gleaming with hunger and hatred.

This wasn't the college experience I'd imagined but as the moon rose higher and my new pack gathered close, I realized maybe it was exactly where I was meant to be. Maybe, I could find out exactly what happened to my family. How my mother died and where the hell my father was.